In Mexico, drug traffickers recruit "via" online video games and on social networks

In Mexico, on Tiktok, there are posts published by members of criminal groups to recruit.

(illustration photo) AFP - ALFREDO ESTRELLA

Text by: Gwendolina Duval

3 min

In Mexico, video games and social media are used by drug cartels to recruit young people.

At least that's what the Mexican government says.

On Wednesday October 20, at a press conference, the president warned parents, asking them to be more careful and spend more time with their children and adolescents.

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From our correspondent in Mexico,

This warning from Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador comes after the recruitment of three young people by drug traffickers. This is the Free Fire case, named after the successful smartphone video game. The players play as a character and the goal is to kill all other participants connected opponents. Three minors, adolescents from the state of Oaxaca were contacted by a criminal group

the chat room of this video game.

A player offered them work for the equivalent of around 350 euros;

every two weeks, they had to go to the city of Monterrey in the north of the country and act as "hawks": that is to say, position themselves at the top of a hill and warn drug traffickers of police passages.

The young people accepted the offer, they were ready to go.

This time the authorities arrested them just before, as well as the contact of the cartel they met on the spot to finance their journey. 

Authorities alert parents

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador assured that he was not seeking to ban video games, following the principle "that it is forbidden to ban" but he calls for self-regulation and asks parents to control their own. children. It must be said that it would be quite complicated to limit the access of young people to these platforms which are very often easy to download for free from any

. So the government published a list of ten recommendations for players and parents to follow, such as: not sharing your geolocation or not chatting online with strangers.

The government seems quite helpless in the face of this phenomenon, especially since it is not new.

In Mexico, globally, all social networks are taken by storm by drug traffickers.

There are fake ads on Facebook that offer work, and the end of the line is the cartels.

Sometimes, recruitment campaigns are much more explicit, on the social networks frequented by young people.

"

Personal branding

" of cartels on the networks

On TikTok, you can see

published by members of criminal groups.

They use screenshots of violent video games that appeal to young audiences, with the message that the organization is recruiting.

And then in an even more insidious way, there are also all these profiles who promote a lifestyle of drug traffickers in luxury and glamor.

Sometimes we see violent images, but mostly festive images where criminals display weapons, women and bundles of dollar bills. 

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• Mexico

• Drug

• Social networks

• Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

• Education

• Criminality